Tierney’s 90‑day review praises finances and flags graduation gaps for ESE and ELL students
Summary
Superintendent Tierney reported a clean financial audit with no findings on food service, low teacher vacancy rates and several achievement gaps — including a 2.8‑point lag in overall graduation rate and larger shortfalls for exceptional students and English language learners — and proposed targeted actions on pathways and supports.
Superintendent Tierney presented a 90‑day district review, telling the board auditors gave the district a clean financial report and found no issues with the food service fund after raising questions earlier in the year. "There were no findings regarding the expenditures and the food service budget," Tierney said, noting the auditors reviewed the restricted fund and cited a healthy fund balance.
Tierney praised the district's low teacher vacancy rate and strong community support but highlighted several areas for improvement. He told the board the graduation rate is "2.8% behind the state average," and said exceptional students were 4.7 percentage points behind, while English language learners lagged by about "20.2 percent." Those gaps, he said, require focused interventions and expanded pathways to graduation including college and career readiness options.
Tierney described actions the district is pursuing: targeted tutoring and additional pathways to graduation, attention to bilingual staffing and small‑group instruction for ELL students, expanded CTE opportunities and work on scheduling and master schedules to improve access to advanced coursework. He urged continued community partnerships and staff recruitment to support those priorities.
Board members responded with gratitude for the audit work and support for a deeper review of the three major construction projects noted earlier; one member said a dedicated workshop may be needed to consider the sequence and funding of multiple capital projects before approving large expenditures.
